Speaking to the club in an interview, he said, “There were some clubs interested in me because I was not playing enough games and maybe they thought they could sign me or even have me on loan”.

Elneny has 69 appearances for Arsenal since joining from Basel in January 2016, but he has not been considered a regular under Arsene Wenger.

The former Basel man spoke to his strong desire to stay at Arsenal, adding, “I heard about this in the news just like everyone else and I was not interested at all. I spoke with the people here at the club and I told them, ‘I don’t want to leave. I want to fight for my position’. I trust myself, I have a dream to pursue and I am not going to give up on it. I dream big and this is one of the biggest clubs in the world and I want to stay”.

Elneny continued, “The club welcomed my decision to stay and that was the end of it. People were saying, ‘You aren’t playing enough games, maybe you should leave or go on loan somewhere’ but I wanted to prove myself. I played the first game of the season in the Community Shield and I proved I can play for Arsenal and will continue to fight for my position”.

In their first-leg match-up against CSKA Moscow in the Europa League quarter-final, Elneny featured off the bench as Arsenal comfortably won. He will have another opportunity to play again when Arsenal look to see out the tie on Thursday night.